World Series gets downright wacky

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Touring the sports world, here and there …

There have been bizarre incidents, large and small, during this great World Series. One of the small ones that got buried in the zaniness: Boston pitcher Jon Lester's meek groundout, fielded by St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina, in the third inning of Monday's Game 5. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright had struck out five in a row, was one strikeout from tying the World Series record for consecutive strikeouts, and Lester – 0 for 34 lifetime as a hitter – is the guy who ended the streak.

St. Louis is a baseball town. StubHub! had tickets for $10 for the Rams' Monday night home game against Seattle, and fans inside the Edward Jones Dome booed at the stoppage of a live feed of Game 5 on the video board.

As of Tuesday afternoon, $892 was the lowest price at StubHub! for one ticket for Game 6 today in Boston. Game 7 tickets start at $772. That price would increase the moment a Game 7 is needed.

It's good already. Imagine how much better the Dodgers' starting rotation would be next season if Chad Billingsley (81-61 in his career) has a successful comeback from Tommy John surgery.

Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson manned the camera for an Esquire magazine photo session starring his fiancée, model Lisalla Montenegro, at the site where his home is being built in Beverly Hills. Their excellent teamwork can be seen at
esquire.com.

The Fall Stars Game, featuring baseball's top minor league prospects, will be televised live from Surprise, Ariz., on Saturday at 5 p.m. by the MLB Network. Three Angels minor leaguers are among the 25 players on the East roster: pitcher Cam Bedrosian and infielders C.J. Cron and Taylor Lindsey. Dodgers prospects on the West roster are pitcher Yimi Garcia and infielder Corey Seager.

Two Orange County products are among the 50 players selected: Colorado pitcher Tyler Matzek, who went to Capistrano Valley High; and San Diego catcher Austin Hedges, from JSerra High. In the 2009 CIF-Southern Section playoffs, Matzek pitched 18
1/3 scoreless innings and drove in his team's runs in 1-0 victories in the semifinals and finals. The RBI in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game was a home run at Angel Stadium.

Of course, first baseman Mark Trumbo and outfielder Peter Bourjos are prominent names in trade rumors involving the Angels, who sorely need pitching.

Trumbo has improved defensively and some year soon will lead the American League in home runs. He is high-quality insurance at first base should Albert Pujols be unable to reverse his decline.

Bourjos is a great fielder and adequate hitter. He played just 55 games this season because of injuries. Most of his time out of the lineup was because he got hit by pitches in the right wrist, twice. That's just lousy luck.

Local physical therapist Jim Herkimer of Sports Conditioning and Rehabilitation in Orange said Kobe Bryant's return to an anti-gravity treadmill does not mean Bryant's rehab has regressed. “If you're a little sore, you back off or change what you're doing,” Herkimer said. “As much as we want to think that Kobe's superhuman, what he's doing with this is very normal.”

The Arizona Cardinals say they are not interested in trading star receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The San Diego Chargers – whose receivers corps has been depleted by injuries, and they never did replace Vincent Jackson – should make the Cardinals an offer they can't refuse.

Philip Rivers' wife, Tiffany, gave birth to the couple's seventh child Monday. San Diego sportswriter Jay Paris tweeted that Rivers has more children than he has interceptions this season, five.

So the Dallas Cowboys all kissed, or fist-bumped, or whatever, and made up after receiver Dez Bryant had sideline tantrums Sunday during the Cowboys' loss to Detroit. That was embarrassing to the organization in general and to owner Jerry Jones in particular. There is no way Jason Garrett is Cowboys coach in 2014.

Former Mater Dei, Saddleback College and Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan signed to play with the L.A. KISS team of the Arena Football League. He has a history of making the most of second chances.

It is interesting to hear how two trainers spun the results of post assignments for the Breeders' Cup Distaff that is Friday at Santa Anita. Richard Mandella, whose Beholder got post 5: “They were down to having the 1 and the 5 left, and I sure didn't want the 1.” And Manny Azpurua, whose Street Girl got post 1: “There were two numbers left (the 1 and 5), and I knew I was going to get the 1. But it doesn't really matter in a six-horse field, and we are not going to the lead, anyway.” If they ever get tired of the horse-racing game, Mandella and Azpurua have futures in politics.

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